BYU-Idaho Devotional January 13, 2004

Agency, Priesthood, and Black Powder

Elder David E. Sorensen

Let me begin my remarks by telling you that your lives are of great concern to President Hinckley and his associates - myself included. We pray for you students regularly; we realize that you are the future leaders of this church, the hope of your future communities and the hope of the nation, really, the hope of the world. In fact, you are given the charge, responsibility and privilege directly from our Father in heaven to prepare a people (and I might add not just a few) to meet the Lord in His great Second Coming. We love you very much and appreciate your being at this university. We want you to succeed in your lives: President Hinckley wants you to succeed, the members of the Council of the Twelve Apostles want you to succeed, President Bednar, whom I know well and respect, wants you to succeed. Your faith, devotion, and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ have brought you here. We want this to be a place where your faith will continue to strengthen and grow. My assistant’s husband’s great-great grandfather was Thomas E. Ricks. They have strong family ties to this area and are so grateful for the opportunities and education they received at this institution.

My wife’s father, Leslie James Anderson, grew up in the small town of Manti, Utah. In 1919 when Les was only 14 years old, Sanpete County built a road up Manti Canyon using what was then a common method of detonating black blasting powder to remove difficult rocks and sharp canyon walls that could not be subdued any other way. Late that summer, Les, his cousin and best friend, Lyle Anderson, and two other friends decided to go up that new canyon road to fish and camp overnight at the Corduroy Reservoir. These young, adventuresome boys loaded their camping gear in a one-horse buggy and started up the canyon as a foursome, without any adult supervisors.

As you can imagine, these boys were about as happy as Tom Sawyer to be on an overnighter on their own. I can imagine them now, cheerfully and playfully making their way up the canyon road, anticipating all the fun and adventure that awaited them. On the way, the boys found along the side of the road a supply of the explosive black powder that had been left behind by the road builders. Les and his cousin, Lyle, were intrigued and excited by this discovery and instantly imagined the fun they could have with the powder that night around the campfire. They eagerly filled their pockets and a hat with as much black powder as they could hold.

Later on that afternoon when they arrived at the camp, they turned their horse loose to return home to Manti, knowing the horse would be needed at home and that on their return they could pull the little buggy down hill by themselves. After pitching their camp and building a campfire, the boys thought they’d have some fun. At about 9 o’clock that evening, Les and Lyle started throwing some of the black powder into the fire and watching it explode with a bang. But with one of these explosions, a spark landed in the hat filled with powder and ignited it. It exploded and then ignited the powder in their pockets. In an instant, the air was filled with piercing screams, and the boys’ clothing was a mass of flames. The two boys in the tent rushed out to help Les and Lyle, but they couldn’t put out the flames until the clothing was almost entirely burned off, and Les and Lyle were covered with deep burns. The other boys wrapped quilts around Les and Lyle and placed them as gently as possible in the buggy and then started pulling the buggy down the canyon in the dark.

All the way down the canyon, the two badly burnt boys kept calling for water. In fact, at one point Les could hear water running in the creek close to the road. The buggy was going quite slowly at that moment, so Les rolled himself out of the buggy and into the water. Les said later that he thought this saved his life as the cool water eased the pain of his burns.

Les’ cousin and best friend, Lyle, was not as fortunate; he stayed in the buggy near death as they returned down the rocky road to Manti, finally arriving home at about 11:00 p.m. Despite a constant vigil of medical attention throughout the night, the next morning Lyle died.

It took Les two years to recuperate, including one full year of missed school. When I met him at age fifty-three, although his face was scar-free, he still had deep scars from his feet all the way up his back and along his arms. Thanks to the fasting and prayers of the good people of Manti and his own sheer will, he healed well enough to embrace the responsibilities of adulthood and live a full life. He served his country in World War II as a Bombardment Squadron Commander in Italy, rising to the rank of colonel in the Army Air Corps. He returned safely after the war, was eventually elected Mayor of Manti, and served faithfully in the Manti South Ward bishopric. The fruit of his faithfulness is manifest today in a large and faithful posterity.

In important ways, my dear young friends, you are like my father-in-law, Les, as he ventured up the canyon on that fateful day nearly 90 years ago: you have been given independence and responsibility at a relatively tender age. Even as Les and his friends ventured off on their first camping trip alone, most of you have ventured out of the nest of your parents’ home and are discovering how to “be your own boss” and live life on your own. In short, you have more opportunity than ever before in your life to exercise your Agency.

Each of you, as you venture into this world of opportunity, will sooner or later happen upon your own “black powder”. At first you may find it curious; it may even make you smile at first and seem to hold great promise of fun. But I hope we will all profit from Les’ boyhood mistake. Don’t chance to play with black powder. Don’t tempt fate. What seems harmless, manageable and acceptable can quickly burst out of control leaving only destruction and heartache in its wake. Be it R-rated movies, late nights alone with your girlfriend or boyfriend, or cheating on an exam. Your specific instance of black powder may be one of these, or it may be one of any other host of Satan’s traps. But whatever it is, you will be warned by the Holy Spirit. You will know. And when that warning comes, please, please obey. You cannot venture, even once, to risk your spiritual well being. The stakes are high; your eternal soul is in the balance.

Today my thesis is that the restoration of the Gospel can and should help you. The priesthood and the fullness of the gospel were restored in these last days to help you and me refrain from evil acts that will put us in danger and instead to do righteous acts that we may have clean hands and pure hearts.

Yes, today I’d like to talk with you about your Agency and how the Priesthood can have a positive influence on the choices you make. As you know, important decisions face you. College is a critical time for making choices that will impact the rest of your life. Keep in mind some choices and their consequences are immediate. Some are not. For instance, here is a balloon and a pin. It is not hard to predict the outcome. However, the choices you are making at this stage of your life will not necessarily have immediate consequences. In fact, the consequences may take a lifetime and longer. But, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). The Lord calls it “The law of the harvest.”

The decisions you face – how you will live your life, how you will address your studies, whether you are going on a mission, to whom and where you will be married, how you will raise your future children, and your careers – are of great interest not only to President Hinckley and me but also to Heavenly Father and Satan. I want to emphasize that you do have choices – you are free to act, to think, and to choose.

Perhaps I can illustrate the power of the priesthood ordinances in your life by sharing with you an experience that we had several years ago when Sister Sorensen and I were serving in the Canada Halifax Mission. Sister Valerie Connors, who had been investigating the Church, had not made much progress because she was struggling with several personal issues. She was encouraged by the missionaries to contact the Mission President to see if I could help her resolve some of her concerns. She had serious conflicts with the Word of Wisdom; she was a nurse and her job often required her to work on the Sabbath day; she recently had been through a painful divorce and had a teenage son to rear. Furthermore, there were few incentives for her to join the church. There were only a handful of members of the Church in the town of Windsor, Nova Scotia, where she lived. So there were few Church resources for her. She felt her co-workers would look down on her if she were to join the church.

She and I met; we reviewed the beauties and blessings that the fullness of the Gospel provides. As we talked it became clear that she had a testimony of the truthfulness of Book of Mormon. She realized that, in fact, she had a strong testimony of the Gospel and the restoration of the Priesthood. Upon realizing this, she decided what she needed was help in acting on this knowledge. She asked for a Priesthood blessing to fortify her in her struggles against evil. After I gave her a blessing, the missionaries re-taught the discussions, and soon she was baptized. The blessings of the priesthood, including baptism, that priesthood blessing, her patriarchal blessing, and the receipt of the Holy Ghost did indeed give her strength and she was able to overcome the challenges she faced one by one. After substantial planning, she was able to reorganize some of her work schedule. She received divine grace as she attacked each of her problems, and became a strong member of the church. She has been strength to her community for over 15 years. Every year she contacts us by phone or letter. What a tremendous difference the Gospel had made in her life. It has helped her overcome her challenges. She made choices to follow the Priesthood, even in a remote corner of Canada with few other members of the church nearby. She has helped build the Church in Nova Scotia.

Three weeks ago we heard from Valerie again. She told of new experiences that had come this past year. She had recently been sealed in the temple to a widower from Bountiful, Utah, who was introduced to her by a missionary couple assigned to her ward in Nova Scotia. Embarking on a new marriage is an adventure at any time, but marrying again in middle age, to a widower with eight children takes a lot of faith. Again, she looked to the Priesthood for guidance regarding the choices she had to make at that time in her life. Her example is evidence of faithful adherence to the guidance that the Gospel provides.

Referring to marriage, let’s understand we can’t follow the trends of the world. Young Women, “Hollywood Handsome” may not be a characteristic you’d look for in choosing the best husband. Learn to look for more than the outward appearance when you choose an eternal mate. When the prophet Samuel was sent to call one of the sons of Jesse as a new king for Israel, the Lord told him not to choose the first son though he was a handsome man. The Lord said, “Look not on his countenance, or the height of his stature…for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Look for someone who loves the Lord and has a pure heart. . Remember, the pure in heart are the ones that see God.

The privilege of receiving one’s temple endowment is a serious matter. It should be extended only to those who are sufficiently prepared and mature enough to keep the covenants entered into. We are concerned that an increasing number of young adults 18 years of age and older are obtaining temple recommends from their priesthood leaders to receive their own endowment without the immediate prospect of temple marriage or full-time missionary service. Single members in their late teens or early twenties who have not received a mission call or who are not engaged to be married in the temple should not be recommended to the temple for their own endowment. They can, however, receive a limited use recommend to perform baptisms for the dead. The desire to witness temple marriages of siblings or friends is not sufficient reason to recommend one for a temple endowment.

My young brothers and sisters, when we apply for a temple recommend, let’s tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. After all, the Holy Spirit of promise has to verify every Priesthood ordinance. If you are lying to your bishop and the stake president, you negate the ordinance. President John Taylor speaks of the requirement to “pass by” angels and Gods to enter into our exaltation.

The time will come when we shall not only have to pass by those officers whom I have referred to say, to have the sanction and approval of our bishop, of the president of the stake, and of the president of the church but we are told in this book (The Doctrine and Covenants) that we shall have to pass by the angels and the Gods. We may have squeezed through the other; we may have got along tolerably well, and been passed and acted upon, and sometimes a "tight squeeze" at that. But how will it be when we get on the other side, and we have the angels and the Gods to pass by before we can enter into our exaltation? If we cannot pass, what then? Well, we cannot, that is all. And if we cannot, shall we be able to enter into our exaltation? I think not. What do you think about it? (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 25, pages 161-162, June 15, 1884.)

Priesthood ordinances should be part of our education. The Lord said, “…in the ordinances…the power of godliness is manifest” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:20). The Temple Department and many of our temple presidents receive questions regularly asking, “What is the temple endowment? Why is it so important? President Brigham Young described it this way:

Your endowment is to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, p. 315, April 6, 1853.).

You are not alone in your quest for righteousness. The Lord has organized His Church through the restoration of the priesthood so that there is accessible to every member, man, woman, and child, a spiritual advisor and a temporal counselor who knows you and who knows the circumstances out of which your problems come; and who, by reason of his ordination to the Holy Priesthood, is entitled to guidance from our Heavenly Father for the necessary discernment and inspiration of the Lord to enable him to give advice you may need. I refer, of course, to your faithful fathers who by divine direction preside in your homes, to your bishops and stake presidents.

As we receive counsel from our leaders, we should remember that they are the Lord's anointed. They had hands laid on their heads and have received the priesthood keys appointed to their calling.

When we are in trouble and need an answer to our questions, if we fast, pray and study the scriptures and are obedient, we can receive a personal confirmation that the guidance and direction we receive from our priesthood leaders can be relied on. A feeling of peace, a feeling of faith that things are proper, a feeling that in time things will work out all right can come, the still small voice of the Holy Ghost can whisper these feelings to us.

As an illustration of the need to follow the counsel of priesthood leaders, I’d like to tell you about two elders serving in Moncton, New Brunswick. Moncton was a cold place, both weather-wise and also in terms of the success these two particular elders were having. They called me very discouraged after a particularly long stretch of rejection. I suggested they consider proselyting in the near countryside where hopefully the people would be a little friendlier.

The next day the elders drove out, parked their car, and spent the day going door to door, without any success. When they came back just after dark to their car, they discovered that it had been vandalized: some one had taken a “cow pie” and smeared it all across their car’s windshield, doors, and windows. The afternoon sun had caused it to melt through the cracks of the doors, where it had then frozen in place.

That night I received an even more discouraged phone call from these elders. The senior companion, Elder Cooper, was very disheartened, and felt the full brunt of rejection. He wondered out loud over the phone whether he was worthy to be a zone leader, if they should be transferred, or if he should just give up and go home. He just couldn’t see that they were accomplishing anything, and felt the intense opposition of Satan. I spoke with him for a while, and as his priesthood leader I suggested that they find the other elders across town and ask for a priesthood blessing and that he and his companion recommit themselves to the work. We talked about how difficult things had been but how important it was that they carry on.

These elders did not know it at the time, but this was a pivotal point in their missions. Nothing changed in the next few weeks; they chose to carry on, faithful to their calling and in accordance with the commitments that they had chosen to accept when they became fulltime missionaries. They received their priesthood leader’s invitation, obeyed, and moved ahead, choosing to stay focused on preaching the Gospel with love. To me, it was most important that they be obedient and faithful and continue to work hard. Later in their lives, this strength of character and commitment has led to successes in their careers and families. They now serve with distinction in their families, wards, and communities. Their success then and their success now come from following their priesthood leaders.

At the press conference for her receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Theresa was reportedly asked: “So, how do you feel, now that you have been working to feed the poor and ease their misery for decades, and things are still just as bad in Calcutta, or worse, than when you started?” Her profound response is an example to us all. She said, "God has not called me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful.”

In the Book of Mormon Jacob taught, "ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life” (2 Nephi 10:23). He also taught his brethren to remember "the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one” (2 Nephi 9:39).

The Prophet Joseph Smith told the early members of the Church in this dispensation

In obedience there is joy and peace unspotted and unalloyed. And as God has designed our happiness He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His children that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed and which will not end in the greatest amount of good and glory to those who become the recipients of His laws and ordinances (HC, 35).

Lucifer is determined to fight a war against the Saints. He is seeking to surround us with every conceivable form of temptation, hatred, bigotry, and corruption. So where is there safety, brothers and sisters? Where but in the Church under the protection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the priesthood of the Most High? Is it not today much like it was in Noah's day when the population of the earth was wiped out in the flood and but eight souls were saved? Do we respond to our own seers and revelators anymore than did the people of Noah or are we so foolish that we will not learn from their mistakes?

We have a singular protection not enjoyed by the world in general. The prophet of the Church will never lead us astray. Wilford Woodruff, former president of the Church said,

The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so he will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty (Doctrine and Covenants Official Declaration –1).

Keep your eyes on the prophet!

The priesthood has been restored to the earth and the keys to direct the priesthood in blessing God's children are here. Through priesthood keys ordinances are administered and blessings are given which provide for our eternal progression. The Savior said,

I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19).

The sealing keys (marriage for time and all eternity) provide the ultimate blessings for mankind through the creation of eternal families. The priesthood has no bounds. It existed before the foundation of the earth and will exist in the eternities. That is why the priesthood was restored by holy angels to the earth for our time, designated by the Lord as the Fullness of Times.

I have learned through personal experience after being involved in the building, open house, dedication and day to day operation of now nearly 120 temples that each temple stands as a symbol of our membership in the Church, a sign of our faith in life after death and a step toward eternal life.

In closing I return to my father-in-law Les Anderson. If you have already happened upon some black powder and have been badly burnt, do not despair. You have access, even today, to be completely (and I underscore COMPLETELY) healed. You must repent. The process is not easy. You must confess; you must forsake; and you must replace bad for good. But if you will turn to your Father in Heaven and when necessary enlist the aid of His agent your Bishop, I promise you in the Lord’s time you will be 100% healed. Determine today to repent and be healed. Please rely upon the power of the priesthood and it’s ordinances. That power is Christ’s Atonement, which overcomes the effects of sin on condition of complete repentance. Always seek counsel from your parents. Supplicate the Almighty on your behalf.

My beloved brethren and sisters, students, faculty and friends, I would like to invoke a blessing of health and strength upon you, a blessing that you will love the Lord and keep His commandments, a blessing that he will protect you both physically and spiritually, a blessing that Satan and whatever black powder he may tempt you with, may never find a place in your hearts. I so bless you and express my love to you. God lives, Jesus is the Christ. Joseph Smith was a prophet. Christ’s Church has been restored to fulfill its divine destiny. Gordon B. Hinckley is His living prophet, oracle, and mouthpiece. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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